ICAS
Spelling Assessment Framework
International Competitions
and Assessments for Schools
ICAS – Spelling is an independent spelling assessment developed in partnership with Macquarie Dictionary. It assesses and reports students’ skills at spelling words in four different contexts: dictation, applying rules and conventions, proofreading, and
error correction (except for the Introductory Paper). The words tested range from frequently used/common words with simple spelling patterns to less frequently used/less common and technical words with difficult or unusual spelling patterns. These
words can be organised under four types of spelling knowledge: visual, phonological, morphemic and etymological.
The level of difficulty of the words assessed are listed below. Each table provides examples of the kinds of words that may be assessed in each paper. The papers will contain some words that are easy to spell for students at the year level, some that
are of medium difficulty and some that are quite challenging.
For all papers except the Introductory Paper, ICAS – Spelling assesses and reports the spelling knowledge and ability in four contexts: Dictation, Rules & Conventions, Proofreading and Error Correction. For the Introductory Paper, ICAS – Spelling does not assess or report in the context of Error Correction.
Easy
(approx. 12 items)
Medium
(approx. 20 items)
Hard
(approx. 8 items)
for
eye
to/two
know
that
some
saw/sore/soar
hour
above
children
quite/quiet
wrap
rain
star
hair
sore
cheek
grin
split
germ
happy
scream
shadow
fright
shave
whose
please
itch
judge
sudden
aloud
quarrel
journey
conclude
elephant
attract
stretch
success
disease
races
funny
flies
caring
swimming
laziness
completion
admitted
reliable
unhappy
unkindly
dislike
usefully
misbehave
impatiently
cent
pizza
quarter
garage
bicycle
Easy
(approx. 12 items)
Medium
(approx. 20 items)
Hard
(approx. 8 items)
over
said
saw/sore/soar
know
who
children
past/passed
lamb
through
beautiful
quite/quiet
bristle
green
show
pair
stare
chain
help
scream
germ
happy
please
turn
search
alive
thousand
slippery
stretch
badge
swallow
believe
quantity
frighten
attitude
trophy
pleasant
shred
exciting
disease
houses
sunny
flies
caring
hopping
happiness
unhappy
unkindly
mistreat
usefully
argument
admitted
reliable
attention
disappear
unpopularity
cent
chef
bicycle
Easy
(approx. 15 items)
Medium
(approx. 20 items)
garage
parallel
Hard
(approx. 10 items)
who
children
past/passed
lamb
through
beautiful
quite/quiet
bristle
themselves
grammar
lightning/lightening
autumn
please
turn
search
alive
thousand
slippery
stretch
badge
bottom
believe
quantity
frighten
attitude
trophy
complain
scrawny
issue
tomorrow
threaten
preserve
encourage
participate
physical
estimate
throughout
original
disappear
caring
hopping
happiness
mistreat
usefully
argument
admitted
reliable
attention
disappear
unpopularity
continuous
rebellion
studious
decision
unusual
insignificance
chef
bicycle
garage
parallel
restaurant
symphony
Easy
(approx. 15 items)
Medium
(approx. 25 items)
Hard
(approx. 10 items)
Visual knowledge (using memory of the visual features of a word)
• Grammatical words eg prepositions, pronouns
• Sight words
• Homophones and commonly confused words
• Words with silent letters
through
beautiful
quite/quiet
bristle
themselves
grammar
autumn
although
rhythm
stationary/stationery
subtle
Phonological knowledge (using sound-letter relationships)
• Vowel/vowel digraphs eg ai, ea, ee, oo, ou, ie/ei
• Vowel/consonant digraphs eg ow, ay, ar, er, qu
• Vowel/consonant trigraphs eg ear, our, air, igh
• Long vowel sounds with silent ‘e’
• Consonant/consonant digraphs eg sh, ch, th, ph, wh
• Two-letter consonant blends eg gr, pr, bl, cl, st, ct, nt, nd
• Consonant trigraphs and three-letter consonant blends eg thr, spr, scr, tch
• Confusion between c/s/ss, g/j/dge
• Confusion between single and double consonants
believe
quantity
frighten
attitude
trophy
complain
scrawny
issue
tomorrow
threaten
preserve
encourage
participate
physical
estimate
throughout
original
disappear
maintenance
turbulent
courageous
compromise
chemistry
spectacular
synchronise
fascination
accommodation
argument
admitted
reliable
attention
disappear
unpopularity
continuous
rebellion
studious
decision
unusual
insignificance
achievement
referred
apologise
contention
independent
confidentiality
garage
oxygen
restaurant
parallel
bazaar
circumference
INTRODUCTORY PAPER
Visual knowledge (using memory of the visual features of a word)
• Grammatical words eg prepositions, pronouns
• Sight words
• Homophones and commonly confused words
• Words with silent letters
Phonological knowledge (using sound-letter relationships)
• Vowel/vowel digraphs eg ai, ea, ee, oo, ou, ie/ei
• Vowel/consonant digraphs eg ow, ay, ar, er, qu
• Vowel/consonant trigraphs eg ear, our, air, igh
• Long vowel sounds with silent ‘e’
• Consonant/consonant digraphs eg sh, ch, th, ph, wh
• Two-letter consonant blends eg gr, pr, bl, cl, st, ct, nt, nd
• Consonant trigraphs and three-letter consonant blends eg thr, spr, scr, tch
• Confusion between c/s/ss, g/j/dge
• Confusion between single and double consonants
Morphological knowledge (using parts of words to build word families)
• Adding suffixes eg s/es, ed, ing, ion, ous, ment, ful, ence/ance, ible/able. Rules and conventions which may be tested include
○○ Knowing when to retain and when to drop silent ‘e’
○○ Doubling the final consonant
○○ Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’
○○ Changing ‘d’ to ‘s’ or ‘t’
• Adding prefixes eg un, in, dis, mis
• Adding multiple affixes
Etymological knowledge (using word origins and derivations)
• Foreign words
• Word elements derived from foreign words, including subject-specific or technical terms
PAPER A
Visual knowledge (using memory of the visual features of a word)
• Grammatical words eg prepositions, pronouns
• Sight words
• Homophones and commonly confused words
• Words with silent letters
Phonological knowledge (using sound-letter relationships)
• Vowel/vowel digraphs eg ai, ea, ee, oo, ou, ie/ei
• Vowel/consonant digraphs eg ow, ay, ar, er, qu
• Vowel/consonant trigraphs eg ear, our, oul, air, igh
• Long vowel sounds with silent ‘e’
• Consonant/consonant digraphs eg sh, ch, th, ph, wh
• Two-letter consonant blends eg gr, pr, bl, cl, st, ct, nt, nd
• Consonant trigraphs and three-letter consonant blends eg thr, spr, scr, tch
• Confusion between c/s/ss, g/j/dge
• Confusion between single and double consonants
Morphological knowledge (using parts of words to build word families)
• Adding suffixes eg s/es, ed, ing, ion, ous, ment, ful, ence/ance, ible/able. Rules and conventions which may be tested include
○○ Knowing when to retain and when to drop silent ‘e’
○○ Doubling the final consonant
○○ Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’
○○ Changing ‘d’ to ‘s’ or ‘t’
• Adding prefixes eg un, in, dis, mis
• Adding multiple affixes
Etymological knowledge (using word origins and derivations)
• Foreign words
• Word elements derived from foreign words, including subject-specific or technical terms
PAPERS B & C
Visual knowledge (using memory of the visual features of a word)
• Grammatical words eg prepositions, pronouns
• Sight words
• Homophones and commonly confused words
• Words with silent letters
Phonological knowledge (using sound-letter relationships)
• Vowel/vowel digraphs eg ai, ea, ee, oo, ou, ie/ei
• Vowel/consonant digraphs eg ow, ay, ar, er, qu
• Vowel/consonant trigraphs eg ear, our, air, igh
• Long vowel sounds with silent ‘e’
• Consonant/consonant digraphs eg sh, ch, th, ph, wh
• Two-letter consonant blends eg gr, pr, bl, cl, st, ct, nt, nd
• Consonant trigraphs and three-letter consonant blends eg thr, spr, scr, tch
• Confusion between c/s/ss, g/j/dge
• Confusion between single and double consonants
Morphological knowledge (using parts of words to build word families)
• Adding suffixes eg s/es, ed, ing, ion, ous, ment, ful, ence/ance, ible/able. Rules and conventions which may be tested include
○○ Knowing when to retain and when to drop silent ‘e’
○○ Doubling the final consonant
○○ Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’
○○ Changing ‘d’ to ‘s’ or ‘t’
• Adding prefixes eg un, in, dis, mis
• Adding multiple affixes
Etymological knowledge (using word origins and derivations)
• Foreign words
• Word elements derived from foreign words, including subject-specific or technical terms
PAPERS D & E
Morphological knowledge (using parts of words to build word families)
• Adding suffixes eg s/es, ed, ing, ion, ous, ment, ful, ence/ance, ible/able. Rules and conventions which may be tested include
○○ Knowing when to retain and when to drop silent ‘e’
○○ Doubling the final consonant
○○ Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’
○○ Changing ‘d’ to ‘s’ or ‘t’
• Adding prefixes eg un, in, dis, mis
• Adding multiple affixes
Etymological knowledge (using word origins and derivations)
• Foreign words
• Word elements derived from foreign words, including subject-specific or technical terms
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